Scar Treatment in Plano, TX

Scar Treatment With Lasers

A scar is a nasty reminder of the healthy body process, made when the skin repairs an injury caused by an infection, accident, inflammation, or even surgery. Scars often vary in size and shape. They may look red and large and fade after some time, or be sunken and turn flat, or lumpy — causing you to think about cosmetic procedures to get rid of them.

Today, skin laser technology has developed to the point where a lot can be done to get rid of scars. Laser scar treatment or reduction is one common procedure which is performed in the dermatologist’s office or skin laser clinic. With laser, scars can be reduced significantly and even totally erased, depending on the severity. There are 3 main kinds of skin laser treatments:

1. Laser Resurfacing

During this treatment, the dermatologists remove the top part of skin using a high powered laser. The laser also penetrates deep into the skin’s mid layers, tightening and finally smoothing the skin.

This laser resurfacing treatment is performed on an outpatient basis in the skin laser clinic or doctor’s office, and typically takes 1 to 2 hours. Goggles protect the eyes from the bright light of the laser during the procedure, and you will be given an anesthetic for the pain with twilight sedation. The dermatologist will then run the laser (it resembles a handheld wand) slightly over the scar so as to remove all damaged skin cells. Every pass of this wand will get rid of more cells.

There are 2 types of lasers used in skin resurfacing, and each has their own benefits and disadvantages:

– The CO2 laser is a quite powerful laser, and it penetrates deeply into the surface of the skin and is a lot better at getting rid of deeper and thicker scars. As a consequence, the recovery time is long and takes about two weeks. This procedure is also somewhat painful.

– Erbium: this laser is a lot less powerful than the former and is often used to treat smaller scars. You will need less sedation and anesthetic when you undergo skin laser scar removal using this laser, and the recovery time is much faster, about a week.

2. Fractionated Laser Resurfacing

This laser therapy makes use of tiny light beams that penetrate the skin deeply. The result is lots of microscopic holes where the skin cells were removed, surrounded by only healthy skin. These holes help remove old skin cells and stimulate collagen production in the deep skin layers. The surrounding skin helps to heal the damage caused by the laser therapy speedily, and the result is fresh new skin cells.

Normally, a topical anesthetic prevents pain. The therapy is a lot less invasive and doesn’t require a lot of recovery time — it also does not make the same amount of skin enhancement as complete laser resurfacing. Patients typically experience minor swelling or redness that fades away within a few days.

Also, you’re likely to need 3 to 5 treatments, spaced out a week apart. While improvement will be seen almost immediately, you’ll have to wait for a few months to see the real results of your treatment.

3. Non-Ablative Laser Resurfacing

Skin care experts use infrared skin lasers in heating the inner skin layers while leaving the surface intact. This promotes the production of collagen and the creation of new skin cells that’ll replace the scars’ impaired cells. The benefit of this procedure is its required time. It doesn’t require the recovery time that follows laser skin resurfacing. It also takes less time to finish in the skin care office; it takes 15 to 30 minutes for the treatment.

As for the disadvantages, the procedure can be relatively painful, but while the machine is operating, it emits a cooling spray which prevents damage to the surface skin. Also, since the healing is happening deep inside the skin, it can be some months before you begin to see results. 4 to 6 treatments may be needed to receive the complete benefit of this therapy, with each costing about $400 to $600.

The kind of skin laser treatment that’ll be effective for you really depends on the kind of scar you have. Having a consultation with a Dermatologist who’s experienced in laser scar treatment will inform you of the best strategy to employ.

Lasers produce light restricted to a small band of numerous wavelengths; these are rather intense and monochromatic lights and have no effect on some substances but intensely affect some others. For example, at a particular wavelength, a single setting could heat up hemoglobin, and not affect the skin cell neighbors.

Also, another setting may affect the skin’s pigmentation known as melanin by melting it while a third might vaporize inks in tattoos. The lasers are used to remove specific substances with firm depths on the surface of the skin; this results in different types of overall effects in and around the skin.

Benefits of laser treatment for scars

There are many advantages of using laser treatment for scars. The procedure has already been certified as safe by the FDA. It has stronger effects than other scar removal treatments that use surgical procedures. The recovery time is also shorter and faster.

Duration of treatment

Depending on the particular area, the treatment is quick taking about 45 minutes.